NATO exercises in Georgia coming to an end

PanARMENIAN.Net - A month of NATO exercises in Georgia are coming to an end.



About 700 soldiers from 13 countries have taken part in the NATO exercises in Georgia, which culminate on Sunday with a field day of maneuvers.



At the start of the exercise NATO set up a staff headquarters at the Vaziani military base outside the capital Tbilisi. The first "command post" exercise focused on coordinating NATO procedures in a crisis-response situation. A second and larger exercise, based on peacekeeping training, runs until 3 June.



Officials in the South Ossetia were quick to suggest NATO's military exercises had ulterior motives.



"We do not rule out that the NATO-led exercises in Georgia are deliberately held in order to thwart the election in South Ossetia," Ossetian Foreign Minister Murat Dzhioyev said on Friday.



NATO has denied the exercises are aimed at Russia or Georgia's breakaway regions, either in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another pro-Russian territory.



President Dmitry Medvedev has described the exercises as "dangerous" because they are taking place in close proximity to South Ossetia where Russian troops are stationed.



He also described them as "provocative" because they come so soon after the brutal conflict between Georgia and Russia, BBC reported.